Convention Damage Control

One of the aspects of attending the WorldWide Convention is free food all day long. There is a breakfast buffet at the hotel in the morning, buffet tables on the convention floor set up with a variety of cuisines (italian, oriental, etc.), a huge booth set up by Menu Management that serves McDonald's newest products all day long, and sweet tables with irresistable deserts. Practically every night there is a different department dinner you are expected to attend including a coctail hour, food at some fabulous restaurant, and free flowing wine. Then, each night is usually capped off with a few rounds of drinks in the hotel bar.

Walking helped to offset some of the above. The convention center is just across from the hotel, so I walked to and from the convention each day. Also, our booth this year was at the far opposite end of the hall, which is probably 3 to 4 blocks long, so in all, I probably walked about a mile each day just travelling to and from the convention.

I also tried to be sensible about all the food. I usually tried to leave some on my plate, and sometimes skipped the breakfast buffet in favor of a couple of pieces of fruit. I also avoided the nightly bar bashes, only staying for one drink or passing on it completely.

The end result was that after 10 days of exposure to unlimited food, and some careful calorie counting over the weekend since I've been back, I am able to post a weight loss today. It only averages to 1 pound a week over the last two weeks, but it is still progress in the right direction.

Date	Weight	Gain/Loss	Upper Waist	Lower Waist
3/31/08	237	---	48.5	43.5
4/7/08	232	-5	48.5	43.0
4/14/08
4/21/08	230	-2	47.5	42.0